Friday, April 30, 2004

Wrong England?

On page 16 of the Conservative party European election manifesto, there is a colour picture of three fishing boats moored at a jetty, used to illustrate the Tory policy on agriculture and fishing (reproduced above).

At first sight, it looked as if congratulations were due for the Party's diligence in finding enough boats to photograph from Britain's dwindling fleet. However, on close inspection, it turns out that these are not British boats. Nor indeed are they from any EU member state.

In fact, the boats are almost certainly, from their unique rigging, North American, and not just any old part of America. They are from New England. Has the Conservative Party got the wrong England, or does this signal Mr Howard's intentions for when we leave the CFP? I think we should be told.